Post Mayan Retirement Apocalypse, 2013

Andrew Answers / 17 Jan 2013 / Personal Finance

Well, that’s just great. Here I was, relying on the Apocalypse to happen on 12/21/12, and it didn’t, so now I have to behave responsibly and save for retirement and such, for the foreseeable future. Which sucks because I seriously was planning on becoming a debt-free planetary being in my super sleek, sexy, and all paid for interplanetary spaceship. The bumper sticker on said spaceship would read:

“Thanks Mayans! That’s one way to get out of paying taxes.”

Since the debt-free spaceship idea is out of the question (for now), I’ve got to really start thinking about where I can cut back in order to start saving. I’ve got some calculations for you, based on my current age of 39 and wanting to retire at age 67. Now, we’ll have this calculator for you soon, so I can’t reveal it to you just yet—but in the meantime, here are a couple of my habits and what they could mean savings wise at retirement, if I cut them!

By the numbers:

What I’m Cutting	Retirement Savings
3 glasses of wine per week ($6 per – think more like a bottle)	$100,831
4 meals out per week ($25 per)	$420,128
2 packs of cigarettes per month*	$12,927
Impulse purchases per month (at $40 a pop)	$155,124
TOTAL	$534,041.12

*Look. I’m trying to quit, it’s a start. Right?!

Over a half a million dollars. Shut up. Okay, seriously. SHUT UP!

Now, if you are a coffee drinker, you might be taking that top number that is wine, and instead of saying you’ll cut out 4-5 lattes a week. That is a lot of lattes. And think, this is me here, who is 39. If you are, for instance, 25 and retiring at 67, those 3 glasses of wine or 4-5 lattes per week would add up to a hot $295,068, give or take a latte.

It doesn’t take a genius (clearly, I’m the one doing the calculating) to realize what small goals and small changes can do for your bottom line.

So what small changes can you make?